I reached up and snagged his hand as he approached the couch and tugged him down to sit in my lap. “There’s been a recent development that I probably should’ve told you about the minute I came home.”
“But I went and distracted you with my hot body, my amazing dinner, and then pie,” he said, running his hand through my hair.
I hoped he was as forgiving when I told him what happened. “An envelope was dropped through our mail slot for me at the police station today. Inside were pictures of you that were taken this past week and early this morning when you discovered your tires had been slashed.”
Josh’s skin paled and he blinked rapidly. “Like Nate,” he said.
“Yes and no,” I replied, then told him about the differences.
“So, it could be a copycat,” Josh said, narrowing his eyes.
It wasn’t a working theory in my mind, but I would’ve been foolish not to consider everything. “It could be, but who here knows about Nate and his connection to me?” I asked.
“Billy knows,” Josh said.
“True.” I couldn’t dispute what he said.
“I didn’t believe him when he said he just happened to be at the same places as me these past few days, nor do I believe his excuse for wanting to talk to me. Plus, he left the store without buying the diapers he said he was there to pick up.”
I wished it could be as simple as Billy being a complete dickhead and taking advantage of circumstance to cause trouble for us, but I suspected it was a lot more complicated than what Josh said. Instead of voicing my fears, I said, “Maybe.”
I kept going back to the email that Nate sent me, specifically the possible implication that the CPD could be involved. There was nothing worse in my book than a dirty cop. I wished that I could believe that they didn’t exist, but I had seen the truth with my own eyes in Miami.
“Miami Vice,” Josh said, snapping his fingers to get my attention. My scowl hardly fazed him. “I need to know something very important from you and I need you to be completely honest with me.”
“Okay.”
“How’d I look in the pictures?”
“Josh,” I replied with extreme exasperation.
“I’m serious, babe. Those pictures are going to end up in the hands of a jury of my peers and I need to be prepared to defend myself if necessary.”
I thought I was fluent in Josh speak, but he stumped me.Jury? Defend himself?“What?”
“The jury will consist of people in my community and they’ll all be judging me and my abilities as a stylist if I look unfortunate in the pictures they show in the courtroom.” He talked very slow, like he was talking to someone with an addled brain. “So, tell me. Was my hair a mess? Did my skin look blotchy?”
I thought back to the photos I held in my hands earlier that morning. They represented my worst nightmare, which was the thought of losing him to the same person who killed Nate Turner. To him, they were equally as devastating, but for a completely different reason. He was serious as a heart attack about what he said. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the picture from last night, while not flattering to him, was completely adorable to me. His hair was standing up all over the place as if he’d ran his fingers all through it and his pink cheeks made it obvious he’d just been woken from sleep. None of those things would make him a bit happy, so I did what I had to do. “You looked amazing.” I hoped the pictures never made it into his hands because he’d surely call me a liar, but it was my truth.
“Now, let’s talk about how I found your back door unlocked again.”
Josh grimaced then said, “I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”
“Promise me, Josh, because I can’t stand the thought of someone hurting you.”
“I promise.”
“That’s good because there are better ways to spend our time than arguing,” I told him.
“Yeah?”
I playfully pushed him off my lap and onto the couch cushion beside me before I jumped to my feet. “Yes, like eat more apple pie!”
“I don’t know where you put it?” Josh remarked.
“Yes, you do,” I said, waggling my brows obnoxiously.
“Ew, Gabe. No.” Josh shook his head sadly. “We can snark all we want but we don’t do cheesy.”
